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Back in 2020 I posted about trading a Colt Diamondback for a 1st Edition Dickens' Christmas Carol. Today I traded a Colt 1991 for a piece of Texas history.
Back in 1951, the King Ranch was gearing up for it's 100th birthday. Bob Kleberg Jr forbid any "dog and pony look at me nonsense". This was to be a solemn occasion. The ranch held a centennial conference on ranching and all it's underlying parts: geneticists, nutritionists, vets, climatologists, and such. The conference was held in 1953 and resulted in producing a book on raising cattle in unfavorable environments. It also led to the genesis of the King Ranch commissioning a book on its history. J Frank Dobie was the logical choice, but Richard Kleberg Jr didn't care for Dobie and considered him a pretend cowboy academic. Eventually they settled on Tom Lea of El Paso and the rest is history. It resulted in what Lea considered his finest work. A 2 volume set covering the entire history of the ranch and including Lea's drawings. It is not on ly a history of the ranch, but of Texas and the cattle industry itself. 2 sets of the books were published in 1957 for the then staggering price of $70,000 the King Ranch received 3000 private copy books. The publisher also sold 5000 trade copies for $17.50 and completely sold out before release.
The trade copies sell fairly often ranging in price from 70 bucks to 400 bucks based off of history and condition. I have 2 sets I have acquired over the years both 1st printings complete with their sleeves. It is an exceptional book.
The book I traded my 1991 for was a private edition. These were never available for sell and were only gifted by the king ranch to libraries, universities, family members etc. In 1994 an unknown allotment of these books was discovered and sold through the Book Club of Texas. They has a King ranch saddle blanket cover with heavy linen paper pages. These are rare. I have only encountered one in person before and my 21 year old self couldn't comprehend paying 500 bucks for a fancied up version of a book I already owned, even if it was mint and signed by Bob Kleberg and Dick Kleberg. That set would be worth a crazy amount of money today. The one I traded for was neither mint nor signed by the Klebergs but it is a work of art nonetheless. It even came with a pamphlet on the creation of the books.
I have read my trade copies at least 5 or 6 times. I love the history and the information and the stories not only of the ranch but the history of the cattle industry itself and Texas.
Anyway, I've waxed poetic long enough. Pics below.
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Back in 1951, the King Ranch was gearing up for it's 100th birthday. Bob Kleberg Jr forbid any "dog and pony look at me nonsense". This was to be a solemn occasion. The ranch held a centennial conference on ranching and all it's underlying parts: geneticists, nutritionists, vets, climatologists, and such. The conference was held in 1953 and resulted in producing a book on raising cattle in unfavorable environments. It also led to the genesis of the King Ranch commissioning a book on its history. J Frank Dobie was the logical choice, but Richard Kleberg Jr didn't care for Dobie and considered him a pretend cowboy academic. Eventually they settled on Tom Lea of El Paso and the rest is history. It resulted in what Lea considered his finest work. A 2 volume set covering the entire history of the ranch and including Lea's drawings. It is not on ly a history of the ranch, but of Texas and the cattle industry itself. 2 sets of the books were published in 1957 for the then staggering price of $70,000 the King Ranch received 3000 private copy books. The publisher also sold 5000 trade copies for $17.50 and completely sold out before release.
The trade copies sell fairly often ranging in price from 70 bucks to 400 bucks based off of history and condition. I have 2 sets I have acquired over the years both 1st printings complete with their sleeves. It is an exceptional book.
The book I traded my 1991 for was a private edition. These were never available for sell and were only gifted by the king ranch to libraries, universities, family members etc. In 1994 an unknown allotment of these books was discovered and sold through the Book Club of Texas. They has a King ranch saddle blanket cover with heavy linen paper pages. These are rare. I have only encountered one in person before and my 21 year old self couldn't comprehend paying 500 bucks for a fancied up version of a book I already owned, even if it was mint and signed by Bob Kleberg and Dick Kleberg. That set would be worth a crazy amount of money today. The one I traded for was neither mint nor signed by the Klebergs but it is a work of art nonetheless. It even came with a pamphlet on the creation of the books.
I have read my trade copies at least 5 or 6 times. I love the history and the information and the stories not only of the ranch but the history of the cattle industry itself and Texas.
Anyway, I've waxed poetic long enough. Pics below.
